But Serena Williams is still her kryptonite.

Maria Sharapova defeated world No. 2 Li Na in the Madrid Open quarterfinals on Friday, extending her clay-court winning streak to 45 matches — 45 matches against players not named Serena Williams, that is.

Sharapova’s Serena woes are well known. Since defeating her twice during her breakout 2004, she’s lost 15 straight matches to the world No. 1. That includes three recent losses on clay, which puts Sharapova’s clay-court record at 45-3 record since 2012.

Those Serena defeats aside, Sharapova is the most dominating WTA player on what used to be her least favorite surface. Prior to 2011, she advanced past the French Open quarterfinals just once. She didn’t win a clay court event until 2008. Now, six of her past eight titles are on the surface. Sharapova has more wins on clay in the past four years than she did in the first eight of her career (and that’s without yet playing Rome or Roland Garros this season).

(USA TODAY Sports Images)

How did it happen? Sharapova didn’t all of a sudden become a graceful mover on the court. It’s not as if she watched countless hours of Bjorn Borg tapes and tailored her game to win on tennis’s slowest surface. Her footwork has improved, but she’s not sliding all around the court like Nadal in his prime.

The easiest answer is that she simply learned how to win on clay. Whether that’s because of increased patience (as Peter Bodo theorized) or the benefit of experience, Sharapova seems to have figured out how to wear down opponents.

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